The psychedelic music of Italy has a certain flair that you can’t find anywhere else. The Italian psychedelic scene of Psichedelia occulta italiana (Italian occult psychedelic), or POI, boasts a unique blend of genre influences, including krautrock, post-punk, and Italian progressive rock. This blend sets itself apart from the massive soundscape of the psychedelic genre, with a foundational sound that can be a bit more structured in comparison to other psychedelic subgenres.
Psychedelic music tends to have a musical influence from some type of traditional or folk music, with many acts being inspired by Carnatic music or Hindustani classical music, some even citing Ravi Shankar specifically as a main source of influence. Torino’s La Piramide di Sangue didn’t follow these more common influential sources, but instead cited their influences as “Middle Eastern melodies, Mediterranean folklore, and spiced teas”, according to their SoundCloud. This particular blend of POI and Middle Eastern influence creates an intricate and unprecedented sound that is easily hypnotic and intriguing.
Tebe, the band’s debut album, was released in July of 2012. This mostly-instrumental album is easily one of my favorite psychedelic records to date. I often find myself gravitating towards psychedelic records with more niche influences, and this album is no exception. I’ll highlight my three favorite tracks from the album; each of these songs exemplifies the unique sonic influences that set Tebe apart from other psychedelic albums.
In bici sulla strada della perdizione begins with a clarinet melody floating over bass; it’s a quiet invitation into the melodies that bloom into something far more cyclical, hypnotic, and layered after a few measures. The shared riff between the bass and one of the guitars is my favorite part of the song. At the beginning, you hear this repeated melody on guitar, which is more “forward” in this song, but the mirror of the riff on the bass creates an interesting layer to emphasize this 10-note motif. The rhythm guitar and percussion on this track are fantastic supports to the complex melodies and sonic motifs played by the clarinet and lead guitar.
Sandalo also follows the multi-instrument, layered motif structure. A 7-note melodic motif is played throughout this song, again on the clarinet, guitar, and bass. At times it’s one instrument or another, but it’s also played on all three at once during many portions of the song. The motif is also punctuated by the percussion, using what I can only assume to be a dampened cymbal to produce a sonic contrast between the smoother-toned guitars and clarinet and the rougher-toned percussion.
The album closes out with L’invasione delle locuste. This track follows the previously established pattern of a multi-instrument layered melodic motif. The biggest difference between L’invasione delle locuste and the rest of the album is the inclusion of a spoken audio track. The spoken track is woven into the song in between the clarinet and guitar motif layers. This song closes with a little more organized chaos than is featured on the rest of the album; the final couple of minutes deviate from the cohesion of the different instruments that is the norm for the rest of the album, opting instead for wild drums and a more free-formed style on the clarinet.
Overall, this album is an incredible journey from start to finish. I really enjoyed the Middle Eastern influence that was present throughout the record, especially the clarinet melodies found throughout the album. I would definitely like to see more “non-traditional” instruments used in psychedelic music like how La Piramide di Sangue utilized the clarinet on Tebe.
You can find La Piramide di Sangue on Bandcamp, YouTube, Facebook, SoundCloud, and wherever you stream music.
